11/17/09 Report (Dist. 11-15)

[Woody]

District 11 - Albany area
 

CO Robert Haberman (Little Falls) investigated a shooting from the road complaint initiated by a TIP call. He found the individual described in the complaint, seized his firearm and issued him several citations. If found guilty, he could face losing his hunting big game privileges for up to 3 years. CO Haberman investigated complaints including shooting from the road, shining and wanton waste. CO Haberman assisted other officers nearby using a deer decoy, resulting in citations for shooting from a motor vehicle onto private property. If convicted, this individual could lose his privilege to hunt for 3 years.  

CO Paul Kuske (Pierz) found deer hunters having a tougher time finding deer later in the week. Several TIP calls were investigated including a road hunter that shot a deer right next to a residence, a hunter that shot a small fawn and did not tag or register it, hunters shooting within 500 ft of a residence, lottery area hunters taking over limit of deer and a person hunting over apples and pumpkins. Road hunting complaints were up from last year, while trespass complaints were few and far between. A sheriff’s deputy found several individuals drinking at a public access late at night. Besides consumption of alcohol violations, they are suspected of removing, basically, every sign at the access and throwing them into the lake.

CO Keith Bertram (Sauk Centre) reports being very busy during the deer season. Citations were written for untagged deer, hunting after hours, shooting deer from the road, trespass, hunting deer without a license, and possession of marijuana. CO Bertram and CO Thesing arrested three individuals for shining deer while possessing a firearm.

CO Todd VanderWeyst (Paynesville) worked fishing, trapping, small game, and big game activity. Primary problems continue to be adult hunters using the youth antlerless tag. Illegal party hunting, where cell phones were used for another person to travel by vehicle to the location of the kill to tag a deer, even though the shooter had an open tag, was a problem.  One of the registration station attendants even made comments, suspecting such illegal activity on several occasions.

CO Chad Thesing (Albany) spent the week working deer hunters and deer poachers. Many TIP complaints were investigated, resulting in enforcement action for taking deer out of season and shooting deer from a tractor. Several deer shining complaints came in throughout the week, resulting in a gross misdemeanor shining case turned over to the county attorney. Deer hunter success in the Albany area was down from average.

CO Mike Martin (St Cloud) checked waterfowl and deer hunters in the local counties. Many duck hunters were found to be without blaze orange during the firearms deer season.  Enforcement action included no blaze orange during open firearms deer season, shoot big game from road, no life vest onboard watercraft.

CO Brian Mies (Annandale) checked trappers last week. CO Mies worked on several TIP calls. CO Mies checked deer hunters and pheasant hunters.

CO Rhonda Keniston (Long Prairie) checked hunters and attended a TEP meeting. The number of deer hunters was less than usual and hunter success was below average. CO Keniston handled several violations, including trespass, unlawful party hunting, wanton waste, shining, shooting from the roadway, shooting from a motor vehicle, and shooting a decoy.

District 12 - St. Cloud area
 

CO Todd Langevin (Center City) reports a nice close to the deer season in the area.  Complaints of dumped deer on the side of the road are starting to come. Hunters are reminded to properly dispose of their deer remains. Even with cool weather, deer harvest was still low. Violations included no license in possession, no blaze orange and leaving stands overnight in WMA.

CO Brandon McGaw (Mora) spent the week checking deer hunters. Success seemed down after the opening weekend. Warm temperatures kept some from shooting deer out of fear the meat would spoil before processing. Several trespass calls were received.  Enforcement action was taken on ATVs in roadways, ATV registration, no blaze orange and failure to validate site tag.  

CO Brian Dobbick (Cambridge) worked firearm deer hunters throughout the week. Success was fair as things slowed over the final weekend. Waterfowl and small game hunters were also checked. Violations included fail to validate tag, insufficient blaze orange during the firearms deer season, trespass and dumping of deer carcasses in ditches and public accesses.

CO Rick Reller (Buffalo) checked deer hunters and waterfowl hunters and found very little success with either. Waterfowl populations in the area are poor and deer hunters were having a hard time locating the deer with all the corn still up and deer being more active in the after shooting hours. Enforcement action was taken for failure to site tag and failure to valid tag.

CO Tony Musatov (Sauk Rapids) checked firearm deer hunters and waterfowl hunters. Complaints of shooting from the road and trespass were investigated. CO Musatov assisted the Benton County Sheriff’s Office with an investigation of a deer hunter shooting a house. The suspect was identified and charged.

CO Mitch Sladek (Big Lake) worked fishermen and deer hunters. He took enforcement action on a number of violations. He followed up on a dumping call at a WMA. He answered a number of hunting questions. He also checked waterfowl hunters and issued summonses and written warning for hunting on a public access, shooting within 500 ft of a residence and no Federal Duck Stamp. He assisted with hunting over bait case where meat and the deer’s head were confiscated.

CO David Schottenbauer (Princeton) worked area deer hunting activity. CO Schottenbauer responded to TIP calls, and several calls of trespass. Time was also spent working duck hunters as well.

District 13 - West Metro area
 

CO Steve Walter (Waconia) checked deer hunters during the week with very poor success. Waterfowl and pheasant hunters were also checked with little success. Hunter trespass complaints were handled and many calls were returned to hunters trying to figure out the deer hunting regulations.

CO Aaron Kahre (Minnetonka) focused mostly on deer hunters. The CO patrolled Carver and Scott counties. He also patrolled the Luce Line Trail and monitored ATV use along the Minnesota River valley. CO Kahre participated in a couple of shining details.

CO Thor Nelson (Bloomington) received calls regarding injured deer, found deer and litter/wanton waste involving deer carcasses. Nine deer carcasses were found partially butchered and dumped on the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge Wilkie Unit near the Rice Lake Public Access under Highway 169 in Shakopee. CO Nelson encourages anyone with information leading to the identity of the suspects responsible for this waste of venison and illegal dumping to call the TIP line at 800-652-9093. CO Nelson completed an investigation concerning illegally taken big game in conjunction with two other states. He assisted CO Gruhlke with a case involving a deer taken from a roadway, within 500 feet of a residence while trespassing. He also continued investigating a baiting complaint, worked a deer night-hunting complaint and he assisted CO Osborne with a BWI forfeiture case.

CO Jackie Glaser (Mound) worked deer shining complaint areas in Carver and Scott counties. She checked fishermen on Lake Minnetonka finding many nice walleyes being caught. Several turkeys were released from a deer trap in Deephaven. A pheasant hunter was found hunting at sunrise. She also returned numerous phone calls about deer hunting laws.

CO Thephong Le (ELCOP) checked hunters and anglers in Metro areas. He spoke with SEA anglers of fishing rules and regulations. He responded to an injured animal call and laws questions from dispatch. He assisted Fort Snelling State Park staff with an injured deer.

CO Todd Kanieski (Osseo) worked hunting enforcement activities in Hennepin, Sherburne and Anoka counties. Gross misdemeanor violations of trespass, over-limit of deer and illegal transport of two unlawfully taken deer were investigated with enforcement action taken. Also, violations of hunting over bait, illegal party hunting/tagging, illegal taking/possessing a turkey and failure to tag or register a deer were also investigated with suspect's identified and charged. Other hunting related complaints were also followed up on including wanton waste and unlawful dumping of deer carcasses.  

CO Kevin Neitzke (Ft. Snelling) did off-road vehicle enforcement. He worked the statewide A deer season with CO Quandt in Goodhue and Wabasha counties. They also assisted CO Hemker in Winona County with a deer poaching complaint. CO Neitzke assisted CO Johnson with a fishing complaint in Ramsey County. He also worked a deer poaching complaint with CO Block in Scott County.

CO Adam Block (Prior Lake) spent the week working waterfowl and deer hunting.  Numerous complaints were received regarding observed violations. A public waters violation was investigated resulting in the issuance of two Cease and Desist Orders as well as citations.  Other violations for the week included hunt over baited area and fail to register big game.  

CO Vang Lee (ELCOP) worked at the Lao Family office handling questions regarding deer hunting regulations. He worked deer and duck hunters in the metro area, and checked some anglers. He talked at Hazel Park Recreation Center to MCC youth group about how to become a conservation officer and their duties. Officer Lee also worked deer hunters in the Nemadji State Forest where enforcement action was taken for failure to tag big game, failure to validate site tag, and no blaze orange during firearm deer season.

District 14 - East Metro area
 

CO Greg Salo (East Metro) worked deer hunters throughout the week and found several hunters having success. In one case, a person shot three deer. The only problem was he only had two tags, shot all the deer over a bait pile, and didn’t tag or register any. Enforcement action was taken for several violations. CO Salo worked a shining detail up north and several waterfowl hunters were checked with limited success.

CO Vuthy Pril (ELCOP) checked mainly firearm and archery deer hunters around the metro area fields and wildlife management areas and in Pine County. He checked anglers and waterfowl hunters throughout the week. Officer Pril also responded to a trespass complaint and other miscellaneous animal calls.

CO Brad Johnson (Maplewood) responded to several TIP complaints. The first investigation resulted in citations for an over limit of deer and illegal party hunting in Afton. A large 9-point was buck was seized. CO Johnson also investigated an over limit of geese and illegal archery deer hunting. CO Johnson and CO Neitzke worked a TIP complaint of illegal fishing on Pool 2 of the Mississippi River near the Watergate Marina. An individual who had a revoked fishing license was cited again, and a number of crappies were seized.

CO Patrick McGowan (Hastings) reports a busy week with the firearms deer season being open. Many hunters were out over the week and weekend deer hunting and some hunters were finding success. Many duck hunters were out as well and reported slow hunting.  Enforcement action was taken for hunting deer over bait, untagged deer, not validating deer tag, burning prohibited materials, and unregistered ATV.

CO Alex Gutierrez (Forest Lake) followed up on many TIP calls throughout the week of deer firearm season. Some were baiting cases, but most were trespass issues including hunting in a county park. The CO had a complaint of an individual shooting waterfowl (coots) on Forest Lake with a small caliber rifle. The individual was located, Grandpa’s .22 rifle was seized and proper paperwork was issued. CO Gutierrez checked many hunters in the Carlos Avery WMA who had not seen any deer the last weekend of the firearm season. Although most stated they would have shot any deer they would have seen, they were extremely happy they did not when CO Gutierrez informed them that the Carlos Avery WMA (Area 235) was a lottery area this year.

CO Tony Salzer (Eagan) patrolled Dakota County for waterfowl and big game activity. Salzer also patrolled for trapping activity and checked archery hunters in Dakota County. Salzer also patrolled Aitkin County for big game activity.

CO Lisa Kruse (White Bear Lake) handled TIP calls, trespass complaints and issued a few car-kill deer permits. She assisted with a falconry facility and equipment inspection in Shoreview and worked with COs Pril and Lee in the Nemadji State Forest checking deer hunters and working ATV enforcement. CO Kruse continued work on various deer cases and checked numerous deer hunters over the week. Violations included untagged deer, illegal party hunting, failure to validate site tag and no blaze orange.

CO Travis Muyres (Ham Lake) worked Anoka County during the firearm deer season. Several cases were made including shooting within 500 feet of houses, trespassing, hunting over bait, untagged deer, wanton waste, illegal party hunting, failure to register deer, and no blaze orange. With the assistance of CO Kanieski, an investigation on a hunting party of 3 revealed a magnitude of violations including over limit by them taking 6 bucks. The hunters had 3 other people purchase licenses to tag the illegal deer.  

District 15 - Marshall area
 

CO Doug Lage (Lake Benton) reports enforcement action was taken on a baiting case. A young hunter reported an elk in the area. Enforcement action was taken on shooting from the roadway, not enough orange and several license violations. Several investigations are still underway.

CO Gary Nordseth (Worthington) spent the week working the firearm deer season. As the corn began coming out of the fields, hunter success improved. The officer took enforcement action for shooting deer from the road right-of-way, shining while in possession of a firearm, trespass, and burning prohibited materials (tires).  

CO Matt Loftness (Marshall) spent the week continuing to work the firearms deer season. Complaints were handled during the week dealing with trespassing, baiting, shining, shooting from the roadway, shooting from a motor vehicle and license and tagging issues. Deer hunter and harvest numbers were down from opening weekend. With warmer temperatures and standing corn a lot of deer hunters stated that they were going to wait for the muzzleloader season. With the fall walleye bite in full swing some nice walleyes are being caught on area lakes. Pheasant hunters continue to wait for the corn harvest.

CO Ed Picht (Montevideo) remained very busy throughout the deer season. Violations included no blaze orange, no license, dumping deer at public access, transporting a loaded firearm, baiting, hunting in a state park, and transporting illegally taken deer. Three deer were seized and a group of hunters were cited for hunting over multiple bait sites within the same field. Officer Picht held a radio call-in show and emphasized the high costs of fines, restitution, and equipment seizures that law violators face.  

CO Craig Miska (Ortonville) worked the final days of the 200 series firearms deer season. A TIP complaint of deer baiting was investigated. Hunter success was varied between groups.  Standing crops again hampered the hunt.  Infractions for the week included no blaze orange and unplugged shotgun.    

CO Jim Robinson (Slayton) spent the week checking hunters and conducting investigations.  Slug season revealed fewer hunters in the field and fewer deer harvested than normal.  However, violations were abundant. Desperation seemed to be the word for the week.  Enforcement action was taken for unlawful party hunting, deer shining, coon shining, trespass, transport loaded firearms, shoot from vehicle, shoot from roadway, fail to tag deer, fail to register deer, hunt on state park land, possess road-kill without permit, insufficient blaze orange, operate ATV on roadway, unapproved shoreline work, and license/stamp/registration violations.

CO Neil Henriksen (Benson) reports enforcement time was sent checking fishermen, hunters and OHV operators. The waterfowl / pheasant hunting remained slow this past week. Walleye fishing has been good this past week. The firearm deer hunting was excellent for some parties and poor for others, overall success was fair.  Complaints directed at deer hunters were at a 20 plus year low.

Madison - vacant.

Redwood Falls - vacant.